La problemática de la comunicación intercultural: consideraciones didácticas para la enseñanza de las lenguas

The coexistence of different nations, races i.e. cultures in the same social space that could be a country, a village or even a company is already a fact. Nowadays, not taking into account the tools of intercultural communication may result in damaging every communicative act. We believe that there is a necessity for revising and explaining the concepts related to the subject of intercultural communication from the perspective of foreign language teaching. In this article we will discuss such concepts as: interculturalism, transculturation, acculturation, integration, identity, etc. We will also look into the origin of intercultural communication. All these reflections will bring us closer to the intercultural competence which, in our opinion, students of foreign languages, i.e. intercultural speakers, should possess. In conclusion, we present the main objectives of the Common Frame of Reference for the Languages of the Council of Europe (2002) with regard to intercultural education.